Circus Bella has commissioned the creation of a giant elephant puppet for their 2010 season. The above picture shows the scale of the thing. (The guy pictured is 6 feet tall.) It will be manipulated by two puppeteers inside of it. They can also control the ears and the articulated trunk. He will definitely have a mouth, and hopefully we will get permission to complete his digestive track...
The main frame of the body is PVC on backpack frames, with sprinkler tubing forming the finer contours.
The skeleton will then be covered in foam and then canvas treated to look like elephant skin. The puppeteers will wear special padded pants and stand on elephant feet made from chunks of cork.
Thomas John and I are starting work on the project this month. We're currently building prototypes for the trunk mechanics, checking out materials, drawing plans, etc. Expect to see more construction updates in coming weeks.
-m
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